Almost
by VivaMac
Summary: Annabelle Wilson is lost. Her family is gone, her group was separated, and she's been on the run from Snatchers. Annabelle is a shell of what she used to be, the shy, bookish young girl is gone and what is left is an older, darker, sadder soul. And a sad soul kills quicker than a germ.
1. Chapter 1

_**As a quick little authors note, whenever you see an asterisk (*) in the middle of a paragraph, scroll to the bottom to see an authors note for more information, or something I'd like you all to know.**_

Annabelle was going insane.

She could feel her mind slowly deteriorating as she trudged down an empty road. Annabelle was tired, Annabelle was thirsty, Annabelle was starved. Annabelle was an empty shell.

Rain was pounding down harder and harder as the day progressed, Annabelle's brown hair was pressed against her face, grey eyes dull and had no spark to them.

Annabelle hadn't slept in days. She'd been on the move every hour of every day. It had certainly effected her movement and fighting skills, Anna had nearly been bitten by a couple of deadies that she'd come across in an abandoned home.

Lightning struck not too far from where Annabelle stood, yet she remained unfazed as she continued walking in no specific direction.

Annabelle was tired, she knew she needed to rest soon. But where? There wasn't a place that was safe near here. Overturned cars and trees she could barely climb were her only option here.

Her thought process was slow, as if there was some sort of blockage to prevent her from thinking clearly. Still, she took her time to think of where she could be safe_._

Deadies could easily surround her in a car, and there wasn't a large enough chance that she'd be able to get it working. Sleeping in a branch could keep her out of reach from the deadies, but she could shift in her sleep and fall.

Although neither options could have outcomes where Annabelle moves on safe and sound, the young girl still needed sleep. She veered to the right, walking far enough into the forest where she couldn't be seen from the road, and where she could easily make an escape if needed. Annabelle placed her hand onto a large oak tree trunk, looking for grooves where she could place her feet and hands.

Annabelle dug her hands into the bark, placing her right foot on the base of the trunk. She lifted her left foot and placed it onto a tiny groove that could barely hold her weight, and used her arms to pull her onto the nearest branch. Annabelle repeated this until she had climbed a good eight feet above ground.

Annabelle took off the brown leather belt that held her loose shorts to her much thinner body, and looped it around her and the thick branch. This should keep me from falling, she thought. Securing it a little more, she closed her eyes and waited for sleep to come_._

_XXX_

_It was late, Annabelle had waited for her father to come home from his double shift that night. He was a homicide investigator, which meant that he'd leave early in the morning and return late._

_She was only twelve, Annabelle Wilson had so many bright years ahead of her that had been cut short. Sleep clouded her vision, but she had to stay up. Especially that night. It was around eight o'clock at night when the first reports surfaced._

_The reporter had a gleeful smile as he reported some rather awful news, his slicked dark brown hair and cheesy smile made Annabelle's stomach turn. "Up to twenty people have been rushed to the hospital this evening after being attacked by friends and family. Most of these victims having bite marks or chunks of flesh taken out of them." The reporter continued on, explaining what these cannibalistic people looked and acted like, and how to deal with them. "Everyone is advised to stay calm and to go to nearby buildings and stay there unless told otherwise. Stay classy, Georgia." The channel returned to its normal programming - a random episode of Catfish!* where yet another person had their heart torn and ripped to shreds._

_By nine, another PSA interrupted the show, telling people to stay away from the cannibals, and not to provoke them._

_By eleven, the original news reporter was replaced by a young woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, telling people to "put down" the cannibals with grey skin and foggy eyes, along with anyone who'd been bitten or scratched. The way she had said put down, with such a smug and happy smile made Annabelle's stomach turn and heart clench._

_Where was her father?_

_Was he okay?_

_Did he get hurt by one of those...things?_

_Thoughts ran through Annabelle's mind like a stampede. It wasn't until the door slammed open that her thoughts stopped. There was her father, dressed in a black suit that had been torn and had blood across the front of it. "Dad!" Annabelle exclaimed, running to her father and wrapping her arms around his waist. She was a head shorter than him, standing at 5'3.5 at twelve and a half, she was nearly at his shoulders. Annabelle felt one of his arms wrap around her. "Are you alright?" she questioned, letting him go. She watched as he turned and closed the door softly, turning the lock with a click!_

_Annabelle's eyes followed her father as he drew the blinds and turned off the lights on the bottom floor. "Pack your things, the government is saying for everyone to evacuate and head for the city until everything is under control," he said, pushing Annabelle up the stairs. Annabelle gripped the railing as she ran upstairs, closing the shutters and turning off lights as she went._

_Annabelle opened the door to her bedroom quickly, and dug around in her closet for clothes and her large duffle bag. It was on the top shelf of her closet, next to her other pairs of shoes. Annabelle jumped, sticking out her right hand to grab the bag. Her fingertips touched the material lightly, pushing it back a little farther. She huffed, and grabbed the shelf just below the bag, hoisting herself up and putting her feet on the first shelf toward the bottom._

_Annabelle grabbed a fistful of the bag and threw it to the ground. She jumped back down and picked up the blue duffle bag. Placing it on her bed, she unzipped it and went back to the closet._

_Her collection of clothes was tiny - she'd had quite** a few arguments with her father about having no clothes to wear to school - but she dug through the closet nonetheless, pulling out various t-shirts, sweaters, and tank tops and neatly folding them in the bag. Annabelle moved to her dresser, pulling out jeans, shorts, and sweatpants alike. She pulled a couple of books and photos from the top of the dresser and placed them in the bag. One photo in particular made her heart squeeze. It was a picture of her mother, Lydia Wilson, and Annabelle when she was nine. They were at a beach in Miami, visiting her aunt Kaylie. Her father was behind the camera, making funny faces while her mother tickled her._

_Annabelle smiled and put the picture in the side pocket of her bag, promising to herself that she would keep it safe. She put a pillow and a thin blanket in the duffle, and she put a second pair of shoes on top of that._

_When Annabelle came down the stairs, her father was stuffing canned food and packaged snacks in a black bag. Annabelle watched as her father zoomed around the kitchen, grabbing water bottles and a first aid kit._

_Annabelle stood there for a moment, letting her mind wander. "Dad?" she called out. His head snapped towards her, a look of worry crossed his face. "What's going on?" Annabelle's father stayed quiet for a moment._

_"It's not safe here, b-but the government is getting it under control. Things'll be back to normal before you know it," he said, but he sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince his daughter. Annabelle watched her father as he pulled something out of his pocket and looked at it for a moment. Her father turned to her for a moment, and handed her a pistol. "For protection," Annabelle nodded. He ran through quickly how to reload and aim properly, also warning her about the safety, muttering a word of promise to teach her more later._

_Taking the bag from his daughter, Annabelle's father walked to the car and began to put the bags in the boot of the silver Ford Explorer*** until Annabelle advised him otherwise. "If we need to leave the car to escape some of those things, I'd rather not waste time on opening the trunk."_

_Her father smiled, impressed at his daughter's quick thinking. Patting her shoulder, he closed the door. Annabelle sat in the passenger seat as her father put the bags in the backseat. She waited for him to start the car._

_Annabelle was tired, it was nearly midnight. She felt here eyes droop, and soon enough, she fell asleep to the sound of the car driving along the road._

_XXX_

_**Okay! That was a long ass first chapter, I hope it wasn't terrible and unreadable.**_

_***Catfish is a show where people who've fallen in love with others after meeting them online, but have never seen them in person. In most cases, the other person in the relationship isn't who they say they are. Almost everyone ends up crying, but it's actually a good show.**_

_****quite/quiet I've noticed in a lot of fanfics that people always confuse the two words, which is one of my pet peeves.**_

_*****Silver Ford Explorer - the car is actually modeled after my mother's, which will be mine in three years.**_


	2. Chapter 2

Little droplets of water trickled from leaves and landed on Annabelle's nose. She was peacefully sleeping in a branch high above the ground, her brown hair tangled and matted. Annabelle woke up mid afternoon the following day, the rain had long since stopped and birds were chirping.

It would have been peaceful hadn't realized where she was.

Annabelle panicked, shifting around so fast that she ended up rolling off the branch. She waited to hit the ground, but impact never came. Her belt was tied around her waist and the base of the tree, leaving her dangling by a couple of inches.

Annabelle wrapped her legs and an arm around the branch and went to untie the belt, thinking of a plan of how to do this unscathed. The brown belt came loose and fell down to the very bottom of the oak tree. "Dammit," Annabelle swore as she grabbed at the branch with her other hand.

Annabelle tried to swing herself up onto the branch, she trying lifting herself onto it but nothing seemed to work. She groaned, wondering how she would be able to get onto the branch when she heard a snap!

Annabelle looked up to the base of the branch she'd wrapped herself around, seeing a large crack and splintering wood and before she could say "Oh, for shits sake!" the branch broke off and she went flying.

Annabelle fell a good three feet before she managed to grab onto a thin branch that bent under her weight slightly. Annabelle panted heavily, grunting as her feet scraped against the bark of the tree. Attempting to pull herself up, she strained her arms and tried to walk against the tree. The branch bent more and more until it pointed down and Annabelle was slipping. Her fingers clawed at the branch, bark digging into her fingers and she slid until all the had left were browning leaves. She was five feet above the ground - Annabelle wouldn't die from impact, she'd only get hurt a little. Nervously, she looked to the ground. She'd been afraid of heights for years, what made her even consider the option of climbing a goddamned tree!? Although it had kept her safe through the night, she hadn't considered that she'd end up being afraid.

_XXX_

_"Oh, for fucks sake!" Annabelle jolted awake as her father exclaimed, slamming the brakes and hitting the horn a couple times. Annabelle rubbed at her bright blue eyes, pushing herself up and looking at her angry father._

_"What's wrong, dad?" Annabelle asked. Her father's eyes were blazing with fury, he only saw red._

_"Every goddamned brother and their mother had the same idea as us -" he pointed angrily at the road, packed full of people in their cars. "I'm getting out to see what's going on, you lock the door and don't open it for anyone." Annabelle nodded, leaning over to latch the door as her father got out. She watched as he jogged over to a woman with short grey hair who had her arm over a girl who appeared to be no older then Anna. They sat inside the boot of their car as they began talking._

_Annabelle waited for at least ten minutes before her father waved her over with a smile. Biting her lip, she unlocked the door and took the keys with her and locked the car as she moved over to her father. Annabelle was quite shy, and the woman noticed this as she hid behind her father. Her features were soft, her hair was in a buzz cut and her thin lips smiled kindly at Annabelle who couldn't help but smile back._

_The woman reached over and brushed a piece of Annabelle's brown locks, which reached just above her shoulders at the time, and said gently, "You must be Jasper's daughter," Annabelle nodded softly, moving out from behind her father slightly. "Annabelle, he tells me your name is. A very beautiful name for a just as beautiful girl, this is Sophia." Her other arm squeezed the shoulders of the young girl beside her. Annabelle waved shyly, looking at the girl in a blue shirt and green shorts._

_"Carol, what's going on here? Why are we evacuating?" Annabelle's father, Jasper, asked. Carol shrugged as she furrowed her eyebrows._

_"The government stopped reporting after eleven. There's no radio, the tv shut off before we left. No service on the phones. We're in the dark out here, with all of those things on the loose." Carol said, hugging her daughter against her._

_"I'm sure that this'll all blow over in a couple of weeks." Jasper reassured Carol._

_"And if it doesn't?" bellowed a husky man with cold eyes. He slammed the car door shut, obviously angry at the conversation the other two adults were having. He wore a grey tank top and hair puffed out from the top. Annabelle yelped and hid behind Jasper again. Sophia flinched and Carol squeezed her hand and looked slightly flustered about the whole situation._

_"I don't think you should be saying that in front of the children," Jasper said, furrowing his eyebrows at the man. Jasper could smell the putrid stench of cheep alcohol and vomit on his breath. The man threw down an empty beer bottle, brown glass splattering all across the ground, landing on Jasper's shoes._

_"I can say whatever the fuck I want to, dumbass!" the man exclaimed. "Carol, Sophia! Get back in the car." he sneered. Carol gave Annabelle and her father an apologetic smile before complying and leading Sophia into the car._

_"C'mon, Belle." Jasper said as he lead her back to the car. She unlocked the car, and as she opened the door a massive boom went off, the ground shook and fireballs erupted in the dark, starless sky. Annabelle turned around and shielded her eyes at the sight, the town was being blown to bits by bombs before her very eyes._

_XXX_

Annabelle started breathing unevenly, and then she let go of the branch. Biting her lip to keep from screaming, Annabelle's arms flailed and her hair went in all directions.

Her eyes were clamped shut, and a violent jolt went through her body as she hit the dirt. Pain erupted at her core, spreading like wild fire in her body. A river of obscenities flew from her mouth as she placed a hand on her back. Her nose was bleeding, a large bruise was forming on her ribs

Annabelle struggled to lift herself up and basically crawled to the base of the tree. Her hands guided her up into a standing position, bending over to pick up the leather belt, securing her loose pants to her hips. She exhaled a deep breath and began slowly walking back onto the road. Annabelle groaned as she twisted her body, wiping her nose with her dirty grey shirt.

Annabelle trekked on what seemed like a pointless journey for hours until she stumbled across on what used to be a cute little home. The deck was falling apart and the wood was splintering, the mailbox labeled _2236_ was overflowing with unopened, yellowing mail. Annabelle grabbed a few letters, opening the seals that had lost it's stickiness long ago.

_Ronnie, it read, the CDC has been working on a cure endlessly, I suspect that we should find a cure very soon. It's only been a couple weeks before the virus was detected and a tabloid has gotten information from an "inside source."_

_Everyone thinks it's Milton - he's been acting rather strange as of late and seems guilty._

_Milton, however, has been denying his involvement with anything. And get this - he says it was you! I laughed in his face at the accusation, there isn't a chance that you would do such a thing._

_Say hello to June and Jamie for me,_

_Much love,_

_- Robert_

_Ronnie,_

_Milton was sacked after he claimed that these individuals were actual people - just sick people._

_I fear that there isn't a cure, we're all just wasting our time. The media has been reporting about this...epidemic. Jason is planning to tell the reporters to get everyone out of the city in a few days. I want you and the kids to get out of the city and head to Atlanta - I'll meet you there soon. But if I do leave, I'll have a warrant for my head._

- _Robert_

Annabelle found herself wondering what had happened to this family - she imagined June and Jamie as young little kids with bright eyes and rosy cheeks, cute little tykes that were wise beyond their years.

Annabelle saw a happy ending for Ronnie and Robbert and the two kids. She saw something amazing, that little light at the end of the tunnel for them. Annabelle saw something happy.

Annabelle smiled, she really did have hope for the tiny little family.

Annabelle opened the screen in front of the door, the black netting in front of the glass was ripped and the wooden door itself was unlocked. It was a quaint wooden house at one point, with wood painted white and only the first floor and an attic. There were three windows, two large in the front and one in the attic. It had a nice little porch with a bit of outdoor furniture that had been eaten by termites only a little after the apocalypse began.

The inside had long since rotted, the wooden floor had been ripped up and the chairs and tables turned over. A large hole was in the center of the small tv, wires spilled out and it's core was exposed.

Annabelle walked around cautiously, her knife out and adrenaline pumping through her veins. There was a thick layer of dust everywhere, it spewed up in a cloud when she moved her foot even slightly. Annabelle sneezed quietly and banged her arm against a beige wall, the paint might have been white at one point and peeled off at the edges.

She continued banging and waited for a sound of a walker. After a few minutes of silence, Annabelle continued forward and dropped the opened letters on the floor, walking forward into a dirty kitchen. Everything had been turned over and broken. Annabelle ripped open the cabinets, and found a large can of peaches. Her stomach grumbled at the sight, and she immediately pierced the top with her knife.

When she got it open the sweet smell of peaches made her moan, it had been forever and a day since she'd last eaten. She are it quickly, the sickly sweet syrup dripped down her throat*. There were a few more cans in the cabinets which she took gratefully, Annabelle moved out of the kitchen, moving toward the bedrooms. The first door she opened had vibrant pink walls, a small twin bed with a Ravenclaw blanket draped over it. There were a few notebooks piled on a small wooden desk. The pages were filled, both with drawings and words. Out of curiosity, Annabelle pocketed the notebooks she found in the blue duffle bag she had over her shoulder. She picked up a couple of good books as well, stuffing them in an already crowded bag.

Posters of teen movies clung lifelessly to the wall, Twilight and such had fallen to the ground long ago.

A stuffed animal was sitting on a chair, it was a tiny bear that had a cute little bow on it.

Nothing seemed of value in it - just teenybopper magazines and pillows thrown askew. Annabelle dug through the drawers, picking up a jacket and pants that would fit her snugly. She picked up a black tank that looked rather clean for sitting in a dusty house for three years.

Shorts that frayed at the end looked like it would fit nicely, other than the fact that she'd need to wear her belt. A black pair of converse would be half a size too small, but she tucked them in her bag anyway.

After grabbing a couple pairs of socks and even a pair of underwear - she made a mental note to boil that in hot water later on - she left the room without another thought.

The next room had oh-so-obviously belonged to a boy at one point. The room was messy, trash lay all over the place (at least where the dirty clothes weren't). And with that, she left the room (although she did take the Slytherin blanket that was on the bed).

The final bedroom was clean, and it had a tan wallpaper that peeled. There was a master bedroom connected to it, the tile floor and a small shower were grimy. One look at the mirror told her she needed a shower. Desperately. Her eyes were dull and dirt covered her entire body. She looked sweaty and that she rolled in a pigsty. Her brown hair was knotted (she'd lost her hairbrush long ago) at the back.

She took almost anything she could find, an unopened bar of soap, shampoo and a small hairbrush.

Annabelle soon after left the bathroom and went to the basement. She dashed over to the water heater, and stuck a flask into it. Annabelle refilled a plastic waterbottle as well before taking the water in the water heater in her hands and rubbing it on her face. She rubbed her arms as well, wiping the dirt off of her.

Annabelle smiled - she felt at least a little clean. After Annabelle left the basement, the pulled down the ladder and opened the hatch to the attic.

It was humid in there, spiderwebs were all over the place and boxes took up a large portion of the space.

Annabelle pulled herself up and walked around, inspecting a bust and a picture or two. Annabelle turned a corner made by boxes stacked up, and what she saw made her gasp. A few boxes toppled over a male walker who lay trapped under them. His rotted hands reached out for her and his jaws snapped. A swimming trophy was lodged in his shoulder, and the clothes he wore were only blue shreds.

Annabelle couldn't let him suffer like this, "Sorry, brother," she mumbled as she took her knife and drove it into it's eye. Not too far away from the boy were two other bodies, both with holes in their temples.

Annabelle sighed, and left the house feeling the sharp pain of depression settling in her stomach.

This family didn't have their happy ending after all.

_XXX_

**I'm sorry this chapter sucks - it's unedited and I write as I go along. Thanks for reading, anyway. And, yes, Annabelle will be crossing paths with the group sometime soon.**

***Hehe. If you have my humor, you'll understand why I'm laughing.**


	3. Chapter 3

_Annabelle took a long drag off of a cigarette as she took watch along the wall. She sat on a beach chair that bent under her weight, glancing at a boy around the same age - fourteen - as her. He had blue eyes and shaggy blonde hair. His nose was long and pointed and he was a bit of a pain at times. He appeared scrawny at first glance, but had gained quite a bit of muscle in the last few months._

_"You shouldn't be smoking," he said in his southern drawl._

_"Fuck off, Colton." Annabelle replied as a gust of smoke blew from her mouth. _

_"I prefer Cole, thank you very much." he replied with a sly smile. "Gimme that," Cole said as he grabbed the cig. He took a drag, smoke coming out of his nostrils._

_"'You shouldn't be smoking.'" Annabelle mocked him as he passed it back. Cole chuckled, shooting her a glance._

_"Not even a good brand anyway," he said, looking to the distance. "It's a fucked up world, Bellie."_

_"Maybe we're just fucked up people," she replied._

_"Maybe,"_

_"What's the point?" Annabelle asked him, flicking the cig to the ground. Cole looked at her again._

_"Point of what?"_

_"Living," she replied grimly. "We're all gonna die. And if we don't, the people we care for will. And when they do..." she thought of her father then. "This world's gonna change you, and when I go out...-"_

_"Don't talk like that,"_

_"-when I go out...I wanna be me. I wanna go out - my terms, my way, my choice. I don't wanna be...pulled apart in the middle of the street. I don't wanna be bit, chewed like I was some sort of dog treat._

_"I. Wanna. Die. Without feeling pain, without suffering or going through another funeral." Annabelle finished, balling her hands in a fist. Cole grabbed the hand that wasn't holding the pistol, squeezing it tightly._

_"It's unavoidable, Anne. Unavoidable." he said. She looked away in shame - she had no idea what came over her to say that stuff, it just slipped out. Cole's left hand grabbed her chin roughly, forcing her to look at him. "It's the goddamn apocalypse. You won't make it ten seconds if you think like that - get out of your damn pity party and grow the fuck up, or get the fuck out."_

_Cole dropped her chin and looked away, but still had a strong hold on her hand._

_"Don't be such an asswipe about it." Annabelle muttered under her breath, jumping off the wall and going inside._

_It was a tiny gated community, filled with friendly people who called the place Mansonburg. It was about as large as four houses long and six wide, placed in the center of a field that was perfect for farming._

_There was a stream ten minutes away, and a BigSpot not too far away from there. Everyone there was given chores that rotated every hour or so._

_A large makeshift sundial was placed in the center of the place, someone rung a bell every half hour._

_The entire place - except for a three yard radius for tents, fires, and buildings - was farmland._

_The wall was made of scrap metal and chickenwire, with barbed spikes surrounding that._

_Annabelle had stayed just over a month now, a man named Bob found her when he had gone to a pub._

_Moving along to the center of the field, Annabelle stood next to Julia, a girl in her mid twenties with blue hair - blonde grew in from her roots - who wore rather short shorts and a tight shirt which she had cut in half._

_Annabelle pointed to a stick stuck in the ground in the middle of a circle of twenty four lines - twelve big ones outside of twelve little ones._

_"My shifts over on the wall. What's the next chore?" Annabelle said as Julia picked up a notebook. There were twenty pages filled out - one for the chore list and rotation, the next fifteen as a record of everyone who had been there and died, and the last five were inventory._

_"You've got..." Julia ticked down the list until she found it. "Its your lucky day, miss Annabelle. You're going to the BigSpot with Jordan and Lucy." Julia placed the notebook on a chair and stuck her hands in her pockets. "You leave in ten minutes, so I would head down to Community and get some bags and the list."_

_Community was the largest building in Mansonburg. It was basically the town hall - meetings were held, laws were formed, and community storage was there. It used to be a barn with two floors and even a cellar. When Mansonburg was first formed, only a couple of months after the breakout, they knocked out the stalls that once held cattle and horses and made rooms. The cellar turned into a large supply storage room, the first floor was split in half - the front was a receptionist/waiting area, the second half was a big meeting room. The second floor was records, and storage for the things the group returned from their runs._

_Annabelle jogged over there and opened the doors. There was a desk to her left where an elderly woman sat, Annabelle often referred to her as the Keeper - that's exactly what she was, she kept everything organized and knew where everything was._

_"Hello, Annabelle. What can I help you with?" the elderly woman said._

_"Hi, Gertrude. I need the supply list for the BigSpot run today and some bags."_

_Gertrude opened a drawer in the desk and pulled out a large file. She began sifting through it and pulled out a small piece of paper. Annabelle took it and looked over it._

_2 boxes of Prenatal medicine_

_3 packets of vegetable seeds_

_1 (tiny) flower pot_

_2 Polaroid cameras_

_"Seems reasonable," Annabelle said and shoved the paper in her pocket. _

_"The bags are right here - Johanna's group just got back from the baby store and didn't put up the bags._

_Annabelle took the bags and smiled at Gertrude and said, "Thanks, Gertrude."_

_"Stay safe, dear!"_

_XXX_

_"Oh, shit!" _Annabelle muttered as she pressed herself against the stone wall. She reached for her knife and stuck her head around the corner.

A huge herd was slowly walking by - at least seventy deadies walking past her. She kept her head around the corner until the herd seemed to thin out. "Think, Anna, think." she whispered.

She looked around her until something caught her eye. The ladder of a fire escape glinted in the sunlight, just across the road from her. Annabelle ran over to it and placed her feet onto the rungs and climbed. The ladder went up ten feet until it attached to a fire escape, which went all the way to the roof.

Annabelle pulled herself up onto the fire escape and ran up the stairs. It went up a few flights and opened up to the roof.

"I'm really, really, really high up," she said when she looked down. Then, in pure stupidity, Annabelle walked a few feet from the edge and ran, then jumped. She flew a few feet before roughly landing against the wall, her arms barely holding her up. Annabelle's feel scraped against the wall as she strained to pull herself up.

Annabelle, when she managed to get on the roof, lay down and took deep breaths. "All of this just to get past some deadies," she mumbled. Annabelle stood and looked across the street where the herd was, only to find air in their wake. She groaned and looked at the sky, "Are you fucking kidding me?"

_XXX_

_So that's the end of the chapter. I'm sorry I haven't updated in forever, but I'm not sure if I should continue this. It doesn't seem like people like this story. If you do, and want me to continue, comment saying you want me to._


	4. Chapter 4

Annabelle groaned and stomped her foot a couple of times and looked for a way down that was considerably safer than her way up. There was a tiny building on top of the roof that lead down a large spiral of stairs.

"Here we go," Annabelle mumbled, pulling out her pistol before opening the large door. The stairway was dark, spiraling down at least twenty floors. Spray painted on the wall was the number 20, each floor had numbers spray painted on them as well.

Annabelle slowly started down the stairs, her feet making a light tapping noise as she made contact. As the stairs turned she swung her gun first, paused, swept the area with her eyes, and continued down.

Down.

Down.

Down.

Eventually the light dimmed to darkness, and Annabelle groaned. She retraced her steps up the stairs until she could see well enough again, facing with her back towards the stairs.

Pulling off her bag, she unzipped it and looked for her flashlight. Annabelle pulled it out and admired it for a second - it was a sleek black flashlight with a long knife duct taped to the light end.

A hand grabbed at her shirt and pulled her backwards down the way she came, forcing her to tumble down a couple of stairs. Annabelle lost her grip on the flashlight and it fell down to the next landing before hitting a wall.

A walker stood in front of her, it's skin rotting off and clothes torn. It's hair was barely there and it lunged for her.

Annabelle muttered as it came for her, "Oh, fuck me." She quickly crawled to the landing where the flashlight was before the walker slammed down on top of her, eagerly chomping it's jaw. Annabelle's fingers were inches away from the flashlight and her arm was placed under the walker's chin, pushing it away from her.

Annabelle grabbed the flashlight and stabbed the walker through its gaping mouth, pushing the knife up and up until the walker went still, and slumped on her.

"Shits sake..."

Annabelle groaned as she pushed the lifeless corpse off of her and stood, grabbing the flashlight and ripping it out. She looked at the number on the wall. 17B, it read.

Clicking the light, Annabelle began walking down.

XXX

_"Jor-Don," Annabelle said as she waited outside the BigSpot. Jordan was standing next to her, Lucy was next to him. Jordan was in his late teens, Lucy was in her early twenties. The two were siblings, they both shared the same button nose and jade eyes. Jordan had short blonde hair and Lucy had an auburn-red._

_"What?" he asked._

_"How much longer we gotta wait?" Annabelle asked him._

_"I say we go in now. Anything that's in there woulda come out by now, don't you think?"_

_"I'd say so," Lucy chimed in, surprising Annabelle. Lucy wasn't much of a talker, in fact she rarely talked to Annabelle herself. Lucy pushed past the two and opened the doors, her knife raised. Jordan and Annabelle raised their guns and followed Lucy inside._

_"Okay," Annabelle began, taking out the piece of paper in her jeans. "Luce, you go to the pregnancy section. We need two boxes of prenatal vitamins. Jordan, you get the flower pot and the cameras. I'll handle the seeds, be sure to-"_

_Jordan interrupted her,"'Fill up your bags with whatever you think is necessary,' we know." Annabelle looked up from the paper and stuck out her tongue at him._

_Annabelle replied jokingly as she moved past him, "Shut it, Jar-Jar Binks."_

_Annabelle moved towards the gardening area where packets of seeds were hung up on a small shelf. Most of the seeds were gone, but at least ten packets were left over. Shoving them in her bag, Annabelle moved over to where rotting food sat on isles._

_"Gross," she whispered._

_"Hey, Anne!" Lucy called out. "Look at this," Annabelle began walking towards her voice, going toward the back room._

_Lucy was perched up against a wall, her ear pressed against an air vent. Lucy motioned for her to move closer, leaning down and cupping her hands together, preparing to lift Annabelle up to the vent._

_Annabelle placed her foot into Lucy's hands, and grabbed onto a railing just below the vent and pressed her ear against it._

_"Do you hear it?" Lucy asked excitedly. Annabelle shushed her. Soft groans echoed through the vent._

_"Infected," Annabelle whispered. Lucy set her down, and smiled widely. She pointed to the roof._

_"Water spots," Lucy said. "The roof's bending down from water damage and weight. There are _walkers _on the _roof._"_

_"That roof's gonna come down soon," Annabelle said. "We gotta get out of here, warn everyone."_

_Lucy's face fell, but she nodded reluctantly._

_XXX_

Down.

Down.

Down.

Annabelle continued down the stairs, the light of her flashlight saw better days. A horrid stench filled her nose as she went down, the sound of groans invaded her ears and she paused on the steps.

"Maybe it's a passing floor," Annabelle whispered to herself, despite how much she didn't believe it. But, no - it wasn't a passing floor. It was the exact floor she needed to go through to exit the building. Annabelle reached the landing she needed to be on, and flashed her light on the door.

_Dead Inside, Do Not Open_ was written on the door in what appeared to be dried blood, or a rust-colored spray paint.

The door seemed to tower over Anna, she felt like it could transform into a teeth-mashing, metal churning, rusty monster that has a taste for human flesh, much like the ones that haunted her dreams after she saw _Monster House_ as a child.

Taking a deep breath, she placed her empty hand on the door. She rose the flashlight above her head, prepared to push the knife through the skull's of however many walkers were behind it.

Annabelle pulled on the heavy door, it made a screeching noise which made her cringe. She opened the door one third of the way before slipping past it.

The place was abandoned - it was an old pharmacy that had been run down. There were at least ten walkers moving towards her. Three were clawing at the ground, trapped under shelves. One was strung from a hole in the ceiling, it's bottom half was on the floor, intestines were wrapped on a pipe that held it's top half mid-air. It clawed and snapped its jaws at Annabelle.

"Gross," she remarked as she looked at the walker suspended from the roof. Returning her attention to the problem ahead of her, she took a fighting stance. Annabelle walked towards each walker, bashing the knife into their skulls. Some skulls were tougher to get through, the knife connected to her flashlight had gotten stuck in one for a few moments.

Annabelle jammed the knife into a walker, one who barely looked like it had once been a human being.

It stopped moving almost immediately. Goopy, thick blood splattered on her as she ripped out the knife.

She went through the walkers quickly and left the building, making sure not to get within reach of the walkers underneath the shelves.

The Georgia heat felt nice on her skin - Annabelle was never one for cold weather. She was the type to crank up the car temperature to it's max, with heated seats all the while the pavement was practically melting.

Annabelle wasn't too far from her destination. She only had to turn the corner and the big slot of land would be right in front of her eyes. What was her destination? The Big Spot. The place where it all began.

..::..

_"Jordan!" Annabelle called out. "God, where is your brother?" Lucy looked around, peering over the shelves._

_"I don't know," Lucy replied as she moved ahead of Annabelle, jogging to where her brother was meant to be. "He's not there," she said gravely as she looked at the younger girl._

_"Shit," Annabelle whispered. "Where could he have gone?" Annabelle looked around - there was only one other place he could've gone, but it was blocked off because of the dead inside it. "You don't think he..."_

_"No," Lucy shot down that notion quickly. "He wouldn't," she continued. "He just...wouldn't."_

_"If there's anything we've learned from all this shit happening is that _anyone _is capable of _anything_," Annabelle said as she moved closer to Lucy, who's eyes burned with an anger Annabelle had never seen in her before._

_"_He wouldn't do that_!" exclaimed Lucy. "It's _suicide_,"_

_"This would is an absolute shit hole," Annabelle replied, grabbing her arm. "If you could, would you check out?" Lucy remained silent. "Would you?"_

_"It doesn't matter what I would do, I just know that Jordan wouldn't!"_

_"You're being absurd!"_

_"Says the girl who says my brother committed suicide!"_

_"We should at least check!" Annabelle yelled. "It's either he went in there, or he left us."_

_"I never thought I would hope he left me,"_

_Annabelle whispered, "I never thought I would ever, either." She began moving to the back, stepping over the broken bottles and empty boxes as she went._

_"There it is," Annabelle said as she looked at the door. Lucy stepped from behind her and grabbed her hand tightly. Her brother could be behind that door, and as much as she wouldn't like to admit it, Annabelle may have been right. "If he's really behind there and he's...ya know-"_

_Lucy interrupted her. "Dead?"_

_"...yeah-h...that. If he really is, I'll handle it. Okay?" Annabelle said awkwardly._

_"Not okay," Lucy replied as she opened the door, revealing a dark room. You couldn't even see directly in front of you. "I'll take care of it if he's there, he's _my _brother. My responsibility."_

_"You shouldn't have to do this,"_

_"Yeah, I shouldn't. But I have to."_

_..::.._

Annabelle walked to the opening in the gate that surrounded the store. It looked the same - tents and buildings stood inside. But there was one noticeable difference - the walkers she kept inside to guard the place from outsiders were gone.

"The hell..." Annabelle trailed off as she looked at a motorcycle that was placed just by the hole. She placed her hand on the handlebars and engine.

_Warm_, she thought. _It musta been recently used_. She pulled out her gun and stepped through, making sure she stayed quiet.

Music was going off a ways away from her. _They were led out_, Annabelle realized. Annabelle continued to the door, two walkers lay outside, along with the bottom half of a walker that seemed to have fallen from the sky. _Holy shit_, she thought as she looked at the male walker laying on the floor. He had a rope tied around his neck, the end frayed. _She lied to me_.

..::..

_Lucy went in first, Annabelle not too far behind her. She clicked on a flashlight and walked further inside. Walkers were dead all along the floor. Lucy stopped for a minute, her flashlight picking up a knocked over chair in it's light._

_Slowly, she raised the flashlight up until she saw him._

_There he hung, dead. His eyes were glazed over, a rope tied tightly around his neck and wrapped around a wooden beam in the ceiling._

_"I'm sorry, Luce," Annabelle whispered. She began to move forward to pick up the pack that he left on the floor beside him. "I'll leave you to it," she said as she left the room, slinging the second bag over her shoulder._

_Annabelle waited outside until her friend came out. "You do it?"_

_"Yeah,"_

_..::.._

The doors opened in front of her, and Annabelle crouched low. She quietly moved behind shelves, moving and moving until she heard a crash near her.

She peered over a corner and saw a woman with a katana leaning over against a cutout of what appeared to be a zombie. _Yeah_, Annabelle thought, _I've_ _been_ _meaning_ _to_ _do_ _that_, _too_.

Annabelle continued to move down isles, going the opposite direction whenever she ran into someone.

An arm wrapped around her throat. "We got a straggler here!" A man said in a raspy voice.

"Choke holds illegal!" Annabelle mustered out as she tried to wiggle out of his grasp. A large group formed around her, and he finally let go.

The man that held her looked like he was in his late 30's. He had long hair and stubble, and a black eye.

"Who are -" the man was interrupted by the sounds of bottles breaking a few isles over, then a loud _boom!_ as one fell over. A teenage boy grabbed her arm and dragged her over to where the sound came from.

The man that held her originally dropped to his knees and looked underneath the shelf.

"You alright?" He asked. "You cut or something?"

"Nah, man but my foots caught," a voice that sounded oddly familiar came from under the self. The boy let Annabelle go, telling her to stay there as he helped.

"Alright," he said as he and the teenager and a large man tried to lift the shelf.

"What happened?" A voice asked.

"It's alright, we're in wine and beer!" The group lifted the shelf as Annabelle watched curiously.

"I was movin' fast man,"

"You lucked out, if this thing had come down the wrong way," the large man said.

"Oh, my shit!" Annabelle exclaimed as the roof came apart, a walker being hung by his guts fell through. Blood splattered oddly as the walker swung.

"Yeah, we should probably go now." a Korean man said.

"_Probably_?!" Annabelle yelled. More walkers fell through the water damaged roof, one landed on its head, exploding on contact.

Chaos broke out, everything happened so fast she couldn't even see it.

She grabbed her flashlight and pierced the brains of the walkers that came near her as the man caught under the shelves screamed for help.

Metal upon metal screeched loudly as a plane began to fall through he ceiling. The teenager was bit, and Annabelle, along with everyone else, had to leave quickly.

..::..

_Annabelle and Lucy left immediately after Lucy told Annabelle she killed what was left of her brother._

_When they returned to camp, they found it in ruins._

_Community was on fire, walkers roamed all over the place, and the screams of their friends hung in the air._

_Gertrude was running across the field in their direction, Annabelle almost ran after her but was held back by Lucy, but was tackled by a walker, who took a bite out of the left side of her face._

_"No!" Annabelle whispered as Gertrude's screams filled the air._

_"Take my bag," Lucy whispered as she removed her pack. Annabelle took it, expecting Lucy to use the gun in her hand to kill the walker approaching them, but what she did was just as frightening._

_Lucy threw the glock back at Annabelle, and exposed her neck to the walker, which eagerly took a chunk out of it. Lucy screamed and was tackled down by another walker, and torn to bits right in front of Annabelle._

_Annabelle picked up the gun, which landed right at her feet, and ran._

_XXX_

_STATUS: CRAPPY AND UNEDITED_

_IMPORTANT NOTE: **I'll update this again when I get 5 follows and 5 reviews. Also, add me on Wattpad! My user is VivaMac**_


End file.
